The World Bank said on Monday that Pakistan was expected to get pledges of aid of between US$4 billion and US$6 billion at a donors conference in Tokyo this week.
“We are still making efforts, we think this is possible,” Isabel Guerrero, the bank’s vice president for South Asia, told reporters when asked whether such an aid projection could be met at the talks on Friday to be cohosted by the development lender and Japan.
The meeting comes after US President Barack Obama unveiled a sweeping strategy to turn around the Afghan war and defeat militants in Pakistan, which Washington has put at the heart of the fight against al-Qaeda.
Guerrero said 27 countries and 16 organizations would attend the conference, with most delegations to be led at minister-level. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari is scheduled to head Pakistan’s delegation.
Pakistan voiced hope on Monday that the donors conference would endorse a US$4 billion aid package to stabilize the battered economy and fight against Islamist militancy.
Guerrero said a “Friends of Pakistan” meeting on political and security issues would be held before the donors conference on development assistance on the same day.
“There could be pledges there as well,” she said.
Hajime Hayashi, a senior Japanese embassy official, said the Pakistan government was under “heavy pressure” and “it is naturally very important for the international community to provide fresh pledges to provide financial assistance.”
“There are some strong positive signs of their fresh pledges from these countries and participants,” he said.
“We very much hope a good result” will emerge from the talks, he said.
Pakistani Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin said this week in Islamabad that his country, a frontline state and a key ally in the US-led “war on terror,” has paid a heavy price in dealing with extremist violence in the country’s troubled northwest, where it borders Afghanistan.
Military operations against the Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked militants have displaced around 300,000 people and the government wants to help them in their rehabilitation, he said.
Meanwhile, Zardari signed a controversial regulation to put part of the country under Islamic law as part of peace efforts to end the Taliban insurgency, an official said yesterday.
Zardari’s move formalizes a deal between a pro-Taliban cleric and the local government in Northwest Frontier Province that critics say will embolden extremists.
His spokeswoman said the deal, agreed on in February, had been signed on Monday night.
Seven people sustained mostly minor injuries in an airplane fire in South Korea, authorities said yesterday, with local media suggesting the blaze might have been caused by a portable battery stored in the overhead bin. The Air Busan plane, an Airbus A321, was set to fly to Hong Kong from Gimhae International Airport in southeastern Busan, but caught fire in the rear section on Tuesday night, the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. A total of 169 passengers and seven flight attendants and staff were evacuated down inflatable slides, it said. Authorities initially reported three injuries, but revised the number
‘BALD-FACED LIE’: The woman is accused of administering non-prescribed drugs to the one-year-old and filmed the toddler’s distress to solicit donations online A social media influencer accused of filming the torture of her baby to gain money allegedly manufactured symptoms causing the toddler to have brain surgery, a magistrate has heard. The 34-year-old Queensland woman is charged with torturing an infant and posting videos of the little girl online to build a social media following and solicit donations. A decision on her bail application in a Brisbane court was yesterday postponed after the magistrate opted to take more time before making a decision in an effort “not to be overwhelmed” by the nature of allegations “so offensive to right-thinking people.” The Sunshine Coast woman —
BORDER SERVICES: With the US-funded International Rescue Committee telling clinics to shut by tomorrow, Burmese refugees face sudden discharge from Thai hospitals Healthcare centers serving tens of thousands of refugees on the Thai-Myanmar border have been ordered shut after US President Donald Trump froze most foreign aid last week, forcing Thai officials to transport the sickest patients to other facilities. The International Rescue Committee (IRC), which funds the clinics with US support, told the facilities to shut by tomorrow, a local official and two camp committee members said. The IRC did not respond to a request for comment. Trump last week paused development assistance from the US Agency for International Development for 90 days to assess compatibility with his “America First” policy. The freeze has thrown
PINEAPPLE DEBATE: While the owners of the pizzeria dislike pineapple on pizza, a survey last year showed that over 50% of Britons either love or like the topping A trendy pizzeria in the English city of Norwich has declared war on pineapples, charging an eye-watering ￡100 (US$124) for a Hawaiian in a bid to put customers off the disputed topping. Lupa Pizza recently added pizza topped with ham and pineapple to its account on a food delivery app, writing in the description: “Yeah, for ￡100 you can have it. Order the champagne too! Go on, you monster!” “[We] vehemently dislike pineapple on pizza,” Lupa co-owner Francis Wolf said. “We feel like it doesn’t suit pizza at all,” he said. The other co-owner, head chef Quin Jianoran, said they kept tinned pineapple
RSS